Aboudia (Ivory Coast) Esprits de la rue, 2021

Signed:

Front lower center: monogram, ABOUDIA 18.

Includes the original certificate of authenticity, issued and stamped by Aboudia (President of the Aboudia Foundation).

ABOUDIA (b. 1983, Ivory Coast)

A row of totemic, mask-like figures with spiralling eyes and bared teeth fills the canvas, dominated by a large green head on the right. Contours in black spray paint and electric blue, yellow and green oil stick are layered over collaged pages: school maths exercises and magazine photographs show through the orange, green and grey grounds. The mix of everyday printed matter and raw street-art gestures is typical of his nouchi style.

Aboudia, also known as Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, is a contemporary African artist working in his studios in New York and Abidjan. Inspired by his native Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast, street art, and traditional sculptures, Aboudia coined his style "nouchi." The West African youth slang word "nouchi" (lit. "nose") symbolizes power; a person whom everyone fears, but who fears nothing. "Nouchi" is also the term used for local street youth and the slang itself—a mixture of local and French languages with its unique writing system.

Aboudia's paintings reflect the civil war that took place in Ivory Coast in 2011. His works often depict trauma, human cruelty experienced; motifs of skulls and soldiers, African fetishes, and reflections of street life are common in his work. Through his art, Aboudia raises the question - if people can choose to fight, why can't they choose to live in peace and help those who need it most?

In 2022, Aboudia became an auction record holder - this year, a total of 75 of his works were sold, one of them for $607,361. His works have been exhibited in various exhibitions in major art cities around the world, including Basel, New York, Miami, Singapore, Hong Kong, Barcelona, and Copenhagen. Today, his works are in the most important international art collections - in Jean Pigozzi's contemporary African art collection in Geneva (CAAC), Frank Cohen's collection in London, the Saatchi collection in New York, and others.